In a software application environment, user interfaces often contain a number of controls for manipulating the interface. These may include several different types of controls and sliders for influencing the value of various parameters of the interface. One example is a text entry control for directly typing a numeric value into a field of the control. Another example is a control for dynamically incrementing and decrementing a value by moving a control along a single axis, often referred to as a slider. By moving the slider, the value displayed in a separate control is dynamically changed. A final example is a key on a keyboard for stepwise incrementing and decrementing a value in a control at a consistent granularity. By pressing the key, for example an up or down cursor arrow, the value displayed in a control is changed in a stepwise manner.
Conventionally, a single control influences a single parameter. Therefore, if a user desires to effect the same change in more than one aspect or parameter, the user must separately manipulate the controls that correspond to each respective parameter. Traditionally, the controls are poorly integrated within the interface, forcing the user to switch between the various controls and/or perform several steps to achieve a desired result.
Some programs, such as animators' tools and other image manipulating systems, may have a large number of controls and may require an extensive amount of numeric entry and direct numeric editing to effect even minor changes. For example, in an image manipulation application, user interface controls often are provided for manipulating parameters of images or graphic objects. A user may use a trial-and-error process to find the value that creates a desired effect for a particular parameter, trying numerous values in the process. Traditional user interface controls keep no record of these values. As a result, if a user wants to recall a value previously entered into a particular control, the user must manually keep a record of entered values.
These characteristics of traditional user interface controls increase the amount of time the user spends entering and editing values. In addition, the need for a large number of controls and sliders takes up valuable user interface space.